Laundry Detail
by amythis
Summary: Gilligan helps Mary Ann with the laundry.


Gilligan didn't mean to crash into the clothesline. He was walking along, finishing a banana he found in the jungle, when Mary Ann bent forward over the laundry basket. She was wearing her checked blue & white dress, the one that was too short for a miniskirt and could've worked as a blouse. It came down to just below her hips and showed off her legs in a way that was very distracting, but this back view was even worse. Well, better but more distracting.

He dropped the banana peel in surprise and then made the mistake of trying to shut his eyes and to back up at the same time. Then he slipped on the peel and slid forward, into the clothesline.

"Gilligan!" Mary Ann sounded both annoyed and worried. She ran over to him and tried to untangle him from the clothesline and the clothes, which luckily were mostly dry by then.

"Thanks, Mary Ann."  
"How did this happen?"

"Skin," he mumbled.

"Oh, you slipped on the banana skin?"

"Yeah." Well, it was true, although that wasn't what he'd meant.

Once he was on his feet, he helped her hang up the clothesline again, and then the clothes.

"Isn't laundry usually Ginger's department?"

Mary Ann frowned. "She has a cold."

"Oh! Is it serious?"

"Serious enough to get her out of doing the laundry."

"Oh. Um, can I help?" She hesitated, and he knew she was probably thinking like the others usually did, that sometimes when he tried to help it wasn't very helpful. So he added, "I promise not to knock anything else over."

She smiled. She had a very sweet smile. "Yes, of course, Gilligan. Thank you."

"What would you like me to do?"

"Can you help me fold the sheets?"

He looked over at the stack of sheets sitting on a boulder. "Aren't they already folded?"

"Well, yes, but I didn't do a very good job. It's hard for one person to fold them, especially someone with short arms like I have."

"I think your arms are just the right length. For you I mean. They would look funny on me."

"Well, I'd like to borrow your long arms right now."

"OK."

First they had to unfold the sheets so that they could refold them, one at a time. That meant standing very close to Mary Ann and then walking backwards, checking first for banana peels and other hazards. Then they would walk towards each other again.

It was on the first sheet that Mary Ann asked, "Gilligan, is anything wrong?"

"Wrong?"

"You're looking at me funny."

"Oh, sorry."

On the second sheet, he tried not to look at her at all, which made it harder to make the folding come out even.

"Gilligan, you don't have to do this if you don't want to."  
"No, I want to, I want to!" He did. It was just that he got a funny feeling every time he looked at her, especially when they were standing close.

"OK, but you need to look at me. And not in a funny way."

He nodded. On the next sheet he tried to look at her in a casual way, but this time she was looking at him. And then she stepped even closer and she must've stood on her tiptoes because her face was really close and the only thing that made sense was to kiss her. Especially when she kissed him.

This time she backed away, but with a smile on her face. "Let me get the next sheet."

He tried not to watch her from behind as she went over to the boulder. Then she came back with the sheet. She kissed him lightly on the lips and then backed away as they started to unfold. Then she returned for the unfolding. The kiss this time was longer and he felt her hugging him after awhile.

He opened his eyes and looked down. "I don't think your arms look so funny on me after all."

"I wonder how your arms would look on me."

He cautiously put one on her back, the other around her shoulders. She squeezed him tight, so he squeezed her tight. He was suddenly aware that the only thing between them was a sheet that was probably getting wrinkly. But he didn't feel like letting go yet. They melted into another kiss.

Then she backed away and got another sheet to fold. This time when they reunited to fold, one of his hands wanted to wander down to the hem of her dress and it was hard to rein it in.

Then he heard Mrs. Howell saying, "Thurston, if we're going to give a dinner party, I need to find out which of my gowns Mary Ann has finished with."

Gilligan and Mary Ann both backed away. She finished folding that sheet by herself, while he pretended to be checking the knots holding the clothesline up.

"Oh, there you are, My Boy," said Mr. Howell, who had his golf bag with him.

"I wasn't, we weren't doing anything!"

"No need to air your clean laundry in public," Mr. Howell said and then chuckled at his own wit.

Mrs. Howell turned to Mary Ann. "My Dear, as you know, Mr. Howell and I are considering giving a dinner party tomorrow and—"

"Oh, I don't know if Ginger will be well by then."

"Is she unwell?"

"She has a cold."

"Oh, I see. Thurston, maybe we should postpone the dinner party for a week, just in case."

"As you like, Darling. Gilligan, are you free to caddy this afternoon?"

"Uh, well, I was sort of helping Mary Ann with the laundry. Because Ginger's sick."

"Yes, he's a big help." Mary Ann smiled, sweetly and innocently as ever.

Mr. Howell sighed. "Well, I guess my game can be postponed, too."  
"I'll caddy for you, Dear."

"Oh, Lovey, you're a treasure!" This was high praise from the millionaire.

The happy couple left for the golf course.

"Um, where were we?" Gilligan asked.

"Well, that's all the sheets. Just five. Since you and the Skipper don't use them in your hammocks."

He nodded. He now wished he had a sheet of his own.

"We'd better take them around to the huts, along with the clothes that are dry."

The Howells' hut was of course empty. She made Mrs. Howell's bed and he made Mr. Howell's.

"You make hospital corners and everything!" Mary Ann marveled.

"Navy training," he said modestly. "But I like having just a hammock and a blanket. It's simpler."

"Well, I think a hammock would be fun to laze around in but I prefer a bed. Uh, for sleeping I mean."

"Of course." What else would you use a bed for? Well, maybe jumping on the mattress if it was springy enough, but he hadn't done that since he was a kid and these mattresses were stuffed with feathers and un-springy things like that.

They went to the Professor's hut next and were very surprised to see Ginger in his bed, with the Professor nowhere in sight.

"Ginger, what are you doing here?" Mary Ann exclaimed.

"Well, you know I have a cold."

Ginger didn't seem that sick to Gilligan. Her cheeks were a little pinker than usual, but her nose wasn't red or runny or anything. Her voice was throatier than usual, but closer to Lauren Bacall than the frog that the Skipper sounded like when he was sick. Then she sneezed, a delicate kitten-like sneeze.

"Well, when the Professor came to check on me after you left, I told him I didn't want to get you sick. And he pointed out that he hardly ever gets sick. You know how immune he is."

"He may be more susceptible than you think," Mary Ann, with an edge to her meaning that Gilligan didn't quite get. "Especially if you're staying in his hut."

"Oh, he's not going to stay here. Gilligan, he'll bunk with you and the Skipper."

"Oh, OK." That might be kind of fun to have the Professor for a roommate, although a little crowded. He'd stayed with them before, the times that someone was using the Professor's hut, although usually it was a male visitor from off the island, not Ginger.

"Well, whoever's staying in this bed, I need to change the sheets."

"But, Mary Ann, I'm so weak and tired."

"Ginger, are you feeling worse?" The Professor had returned and looked very concerned.

"Yes, Professor. I don't know if I can get out of bed and Mary Ann needs to freshen the bedding." She gave another delicate sneeze.

"Oh, of course." To Gilligan and Mary Ann's surprise, but perhaps not Ginger's, the Professor went over to the bed and lifted Ginger into his arms.

Gilligan helped Mary Ann make the bed, while the Professor held Ginger and she rested her head against his shoulder. Considering how tall she was, he must've been very strong, but he didn't seem to mind the burden, or the fact that she was exposing him to her germs.

When Gilligan and Mary Ann were done, the Professor set Ginger gently onto the bed, and then unmade enough of it to tuck her in. "Remember, you need to stay warm."

"I doubt that'll be any problem," Mary Ann said in a surprisingly catty voice. When they all looked at her, she added, "Since this is a tropical island."

"Well, the barometric pressure..." Soon the Professor was launched on a lecture about health and weather.

After a couple minutes, Mary Ann said, "Gee, I'm sorry, Professor, but Gilligan and I have to finish with the laundry."

"I'm glad you found someone to help you with what you need." Ginger sounded a little catty, too.

To Gilligan's surprise, Mary Ann blushed and said, "Uh, yes, well, we need to get going. Gilligan?"

"Right behind you, Mary Ann." He grabbed the laundry for his hut and the girls' hut.

They made Ginger's bed first. Mary Ann's took much longer and by the time they were done, her sheet was very wrinkly. She didn't seem to mind though.

They didn't make it to Gilligan's hut till almost dinnertime.

"Here you go, Skipper," Mary Ann said, handing him a blue shirt that was actually longer than her blue dress.

"Thanks, Mary Ann. I see you've got Gilligan helping you today, with Ginger sick."

"Uh huh."

"I should've warned you. Tasks take even longer with Gilligan's 'help.' "

"I don't mind," she said, smiling at Gilligan.

He smiled back and hoped he would get laundry detail again sometime.


End file.
